Section III: Surface Gravel 39

Section III:
Surface Gravel

What is Good Gravel?

he answer to this question will
T vary depending on the region, local
sources of aggregate available and
other factors. Some regions of the
country do not have good sources of
gravel (technically called aggregate).
A few coastal regions use seashells
for surface material on their unpaved
roads. However, this section of the
manual will discuss the most common
sources of material. They are quarry
aggregates such as limestone, quartzite
and granite; glacial deposits of stone,
sand, silt and clay; and river run gravels
that generally are a mix of stone and
base courses will generally have larger
sand. One thing should be stressed:
top-sized stone and a very small per-
it pays to use the best quality material
centage of clay or fine material. This
available. (31)
is necessary for the strength and good
drainability needed in base gravels. This Notice the good blend of stone, sand and
Difference in Surface Gravel material will not form a crust to keep fine-sized particles tightly bound together
and Other Uses the material bound together on a gravel on this road surface.
Too often surface gravel is taken from road. It will become very difficult to
stockpiles that have actually been maintain. Other gravel could have been and drain away from under building
produced for other uses. For instance, produced simply as fill material for use foundations and parking lots. But
the gravel could have been produced at building sites. This material often has the same material will remain loose
for use as base or cushion material for a high content of sand-sized particles and unstable on a gravel road.What
a paved road. There are two major which make it very drainable. This is a a gravel road needs is sufficient fine
differences between surface gravel and desirable characteristic in fill material material that has a plastic or “binding”
base (cushion) material. Good gravel for since water can quickly flow through it characteristic.
40 What is Good Gravel?

Good Gradation
Gravel is a mixture of three sizes or
types of material: stone, sand and fines.
This will be discussed further in the next
section.Without a good blend of these
three sizes, the gravel will perform
poorly. Unfortunately, poor performing
gravel will often be blamed on the
maintenance operator. But the operator
cannot make good gravel out of bad
gravel. Bad or poorly graded gravel
can not be changed to good gravel
without additional costs, but it is
often well worth it.

One common practice of improving

surface gravel is to add new, clean,
virgin fine gravel. Good surface gravel Example of a good blend of material for gravel surfacing. (Courtesy of Road Research Ministry of
needs a percentage of stone which Roads/Transportation,Sweden)
gives strength to support loads —
particularly in wet weather. It also Benefit of Crushing Recycled Asphalt
needs a percentage of sand-sized
In a few cases the gravel may simply be As more of our asphalt pavements wear
particles to fill the voids between
loaded onto trucks without processing. out, many of them are recycled. This is
the stones and give stability. But a
This is often referred to as “bank run” usually done by milling or crushing.
percentage of good, plastic fines are
or “pit run” gravel. There are few Sometimes the material is available for
also needed to bind the material
natural deposits of material that have use on a gravel road. It can be a good
together which allows a gravel road to
an ideal gradation without being surface, but there are pitfalls. In this
form a crust and shed water. In many
processed. In some areas of the country material, the bituminous portion of
regions of the country, this is a natural
it is still common to process gravel the old pavement becomes the binder.
clay which gives the gravel a strong
simply by screening to a maximum When placed on a road in hot weather,
cohesive characteristic and keeps a
top size. A great benefit is gained from the recycled asphalt can take on the
reasonably tight surface especially
processing the material by crushing. characteristic of pavement. But it will be
during periods of dry weather. Some of
This means that a good percentage a weak pavement. It will often develop
the fine material in surface gravel will
of the stone will be fractured in the potholes and will be hard to maintain
be lost, under traffic action, in the form
crushing process. The broken stones with simple blade maintenance. To help
of dust that rises from the surface and
will embed into the surface of a overcome this problem,the material
simply blows away. This can be
gravel road much better than rounded, should be placed at a minimum three
compensated for by specifying a higher
natural-shaped stone. It also means that inch compacted depth and only on
percentage of fines in the new gravel.
the material resists movement under a road that has a strong subgrade.
However, no gravel surface will perform
loads better and gives better strength A better option is to mix the recycled
like pavement! There will be some loose
or stability. This will vary throughout the asphalt 50/50 with virgin gravel. This
aggregate or “float”on the surface of
country, but bank run gravels are nearly will generally provide a material that
virtually all gravel roads. But striving to
always improved through the crushing still has a good binding characteristic,
get as good a material as budgets and
process. Quarry gravels are considered but remains workable for maintenance
local sources allow will improve the
very good material since they are com- and reshaping. Recycled asphalt has
performance of a gravel road.
posed of virtually all fractured particles. also been mixed with crushed, recycled
concrete and the performance has
been good.
The Benefit of Testing Aggregates 41

The Benefit of Testing Aggregates

t is very important to understand
I that all gravels are not the same.
One can tell a little about them by
visual inspection or by running your
hands through the material but real
quality can only be determined by
testing.

Reasons For Testing

All managers and decision makers
in local government need a good
understanding of the benefit of testing
aggregates in order to work towards
better quality in road and street
maintenance. Not everyone needs
to understand how to do the testing.
Testing requires special knowledge
and equipment which is generally not
available or affordable to most local
governments. We simply need to
recognize the benefits of knowing
more about the aggregate that is
used in construction and maintenance
operations. This knowledge gives power
to decision makers to specify good
materials, to know when to accept or
reject materials, and to communicate
better with crushing contractors,
consultants, DOT, and others involved
in the business of building and
maintaining roads.

Often an objection is raised to sampling

and testing because the cost is too
high. This claim can be countered with
the argument that if several thousand
tons of aggregate are going to be
purchased or crushed, is it not wise to
invest a few hundred dollars in testing
the material to insure that the right
aggregate is used? It is a good practice
to test the aggregate before placing it
on the road.Also, if the tests fail, you
can work with the crushing contractor
to try to blend and improve or reject the
material. This becomes even more
critical in producing material for
pavement or base.
Figure 9: Stack of sieves used for testing the gradation of aggregate.
Sampling getting good test results from a lab.
Another issue critical to testing Poor sampling techniques have led to
aggregate is obtaining a good sample more controversy in aggregate testing
of the material to be tested.Knowing than any other factor. Every effort must
how to get a good representative be made to make sure that the sample
sample from a crushing operation, brought to a lab is truly representative
a stockpile, a windrow, or a paving of the material in the field. It is wise
operation is absolutely critical to to follow national standards such as
42
ASTM for aggregate sampling.A good
video titled Sampling Aggregates,
produced for the Michigan DOT, covers
several interesting topics on the subject.
This video should be available from
any state’s LTAP center. It is always
advisable to work with an experienced
sampler if you are not familiar with
sampling.
What then are the benefits of testing
aggregate? The primary concern here
should be gradation of material. (18,
31, 34)
Sieve Analysis
Gravel is made up of three groups
of aggregate: stone, sand,and fines.
Depending on what the material is to
be used for, the ideal blend of these
three groups varies greatly. For example,
good surface material for a gravel road
would need more material passing a
#200 sieve than a good base material.
There is also a difference in the need
for plastic or cohesive material.Surface
gravel needs some good natural clay
which gives a “binding characteristic.”
The chart adjacent is an example of one
state’s base and gravel surfacing speci-
fications. Most states have their own
specifications and therefore it is highly
recommended that state specifications
be consulted.
Local governments are not held to
these specifications when doing their
own construction and maintenance
work without state or federal funding
and oversight. Yet, it is wise to be
familiar with them and follow them
whenever possible. Even if you choose
to modify the specifications to suit a
local material source or project, it is
best to begin with a state specification.
Notice the major differences in the
above specification in the top-sized
material and the smallest sized material.
The base course requires 100% of the
material to pass a 1 inch sieve, but
Table 1. Example of Gradation Requirements and Plasticity for Two Types of Materials.
Requirement Aggregate Base Course
Sieve Percent Passing
1"
3/4"
1/2"
No. 4
No. 8
No. 40
No. 200
Plasticity Index
From South Dakota Standard Specifications. (16)
allows up to 20% of the stone to be
retained on the 3/4 inch sieve. While
this could make excellent base gravel, it
would likely perform poorly if used as
gravel surfacing. There would be too
much large stone resulting in very
difficult blade maintenance.
Also, the high percentage of coarse
material would make a rough driving
surface. Yet, a percentage of large
stone is needed for strength in the
base course.
Fines and Plasticity Index
Notice also the difference in the fine
material and the plasticity index (PI).
While gravel surfacing allows 4%
and up to 15% of the material to pass
a #200 sieve, base course can have
as little as 3%, but not more than
12% passing the same sieve. More
importantly, the PI can fall to 0 in base
course and rise to no more than 6. The
same index can rise as high as 12 or
be no less than 4 in surface gravel.
There is good reason for this. Good
surface gravel needs a percentage of
plastic material, usually natural clays,
which will give the gravel a “binding”
characteristic and hence a smooth
driving surface. This is critical during
dry weather. During wet weather, the
surface may rut a bit, but will quickly
dry and harden in sunny and windy
weather. However, any great quantity
The Benefit of Testing Aggregates
Gravel Surfacing
Percent Passing
100
80-100 100
68-91
46-70 50-78
34-54 37-67
13-35 13-35
3-12 4-15
0-6 4-12
of plastic fines in base gravel will
cause problems. If moisture gets under
the paved surface, the base will lose
its strength and stability and cause
rutting or even failure of the pavement.
Too often the same gravel is used for
both base work and surface gravel.
Generally, it will be good for one
purpose or the other, but will not
work for both applications.
Appendix D contains a sample of a
complete Screen Analysis and PI
Worksheet typical of those used by
testers across the country. Once again,
it should be stressed that only by
sampling and testing the aggregate can
one really determine the quality of the
material. Simple visual inspection can
be misleading. One thing in particular
that is very hard to determine without
testing is plasticity. This is a laboratory
test which, in simplified terms, tells you
whether the fines are clays or silts. If
you are not familiar with this testing,
the whole process may appear very
confusing. Yet, it really pays to increase
your knowledge of these matters in
order to be a better manager.
Every local road/street department
manager has a big job and there is
never enough money to cover all of the
needs. It is imperative that money
should be spent wisely.
Process for Obtaining Good Gravel 43

Reduced Blading and maintenance. Problems with excess

Maintenance Costs
By spending some money to test
material for quality, overall maintenance
costs will be reduced. Good gravel that
has good gradation and plasticity will
compact well. It will develop a tightly
bound surface that needs less
washboarding,rutting in wet weather,
or loosening (floating) in dry weather,
will be greatly reduced. It is well worth
the effort to better understand the
benefits of aggregate testing.

Process for Obtaining Good Gravel

n agency must strive to locate and
A use good gravel even if it costs a
little extra. The long term benefits in
terms of less maintenance will often
pay for the extra cost. The initial cost
should not be the primary consideration
when purchasing gravel.

Establish Specifications
Gravel for local roads is often bought
from a local supplier at a negotiated
price for an estimated quantity. There
may be some assurance that the gravel
will perform well on the road based
on past experience. However, material
sources can change rapidly as the
material is removed. The only real
assurance of getting good quality
material is to establish a specification
and then sample and test the product
to make sure these specifications
are met.

A local agency generally would not

be held to state specifications when
doing maintenance work.However,
this is what crushing contractors and
aggregate suppliers are usually
familiar with.
These two roads show remarkable contrast in surface condition due to the quality of gravel.
They carry virtually the same volume and type of traffic in an agricultural community. The top
If one is confident in knowledge of photo shows a good surface gravel with a nice blend of material,particularly some plastic fines
surface gravel and wishes to change which keep the surface tightly bound.The bottom photo shows a road surface that has too much
the specifications, that is fine; but it is stone and sand in proportion to the fine material. Consequently, the gravel remains loose and is
hard to maintain.
wise to use the state specification as a
benchmark to work from. For example,
44 Handling Gravel

state specifications may show a Class I
Surface Aggregate designation for
surface gravel. You may want a higher
minimum requirement for plasticity or
perhaps a smaller top size on the rock.
State clearly in your specification that
you want a Modified Class I Surface
Aggregate and then clearly indicate
what your modifications are. It is wise
to familiarize yourself with your state
specifications.
Communicate with
Suppliers
Many problems are quickly solved
when people make an effort to explain
clearly what their problems or needs
are. In regard to the specifications
just discussed, many commercial
aggregate suppliers can provide test
data from their stockpiles to show the
gradation of their material. They may
have further data such as plasticity
index, percentage of fractured faces,
soundness, etc. You simply have to ask
for it.It is wise to occasionally sample
to verify their data. Good suppliers
welcome this.
Good material is seldom the cheapest.
An interesting example in Lawrence
County, South Dakota, is a case in point.
Local materials crushed to the state’s
Gravel Surfacing Specification did not
perform well.After developing a mod-
ified specification and communicating
clearly to crushing contractors what
was needed,some very high quality
surface gravel was produced. Some
good natural clay material was mixed
as the gravel was being crushed. The
result was good surface gravel that
has a very nice blend of stone, sand
and good plastic fines which make a
strong, tightly bound gravel surface.
The material was more expensive up
front, but resulted in reduced frequency
of blade maintenance and longer
intervals between regraveling. Total
expense of maintenance over a five-
year period was considerably less than
purchasing cheap gravel,blading it
more frequently and having to regravel
more often. None of this is possible if
the manager does not understand what
good gravel is or does not communicate
and cooperate with the supplier to
provide it.

Handling Gravel
t is not common for maintenance
I operators or field supervisors to
be involved in actually producing the
gravel that is used on their roads. Yet
it is very helpful to understand how
the material should be handled from
the time it is taken from the quarry
face or the gravel bank in a pit. There
are certain problems that can arise from
the time the material is first removed
from the earth until it is finally placed
on the road.It may be wise to visit the
site where your gravel is being produced
to see if it is being handled well.

Pit/Quarry Operations
It is very important to remove topsoil
and vegetation from the surface of
the material source before beginning
Here is an example of a poorly managed pit operation.The top soil pile shown at the center of
to process the material. Topsoil will
the photo was not placed far enough beyond the working face of the pit. As additional material
contain organic matter which is never was removed from the face of the pit, materials from the top soil pile fell into the working area.
good for a road surface. Furthermore, This will lead to contamination of the gravel with organic material and,even worse, noxious
in some agricultural regions of the weeds.
country, the spread of noxious weeds
can occur when parts of growing plants
Handling Gravel 45

and/or the seeds are hauled out with

the gravel and spread on rural roads.
Several states have laws which allow
authorities to quarantine material
sources and stockpile sites to prevent
the spread of weeds. Under these laws,
the gravel cannot be removed even
though your agency may already have
ownership of it. It becomes very hard to
guarantee that all problems have been
eliminated before beginning to remove
material again. The solution is to make
sure the topsoil is removed and placed
well out of the way.

The next area of concern is how the

material is being removed from the face
of the quarry or pit.Almost any material
source will have variations in the layers
A very good example of working a gravel bank.Large loaders are being used to feed a crushing
of gravel. Good crushing contractors
plant.Notice the good effort to work a broad area of the gravel bank.The operator virtually
will remove the material by working a never takes a bucket of material from the same spot twice. This assures a good blend of
broad area of the face. This is essential material going into the crusher.
to have material that is blended well
as it goes into the crusher. Even a pit
or quarry that appears to have very
uniform layers of material will still have
variations such as clay or silt seams
which can suddenly change in thick-
ness. This can really affect the overall
gradation of the gravel.Good loader
or dozer operators are key players in
getting a good blend of gravel right
at the start of processing.

A good example of topsoil and vegetation that has been

stripped from the surface of a gravel pit and placed
beyond the working area. It can later be placed back over
the bottom of the pit as part of the reclamation process.
It will once again grow grass.

The discharge conveyor from a crushing plant is in the foreground.

Notice how badly segregated the material is as it is carried up to the
stockpile on a belt stacker. This invariably leads to problems illustrated
in the following two photos.
46 Handling Gravel

Notice the dramatic difference in the two

sides of the stockpile. The inside of the
pile (top photo) has an excess of fine
material while the back side has excess
stone (bottom photo).This could have
been prevented by eliminating segregation
on the stacker belt.

Another problem commonly encoun-

tered is in the processing plant itself.
These plants are made of different
types and sizes and the detailed
operation of each is beyond the scope
of this manual.

The problem here is the segregation

of material during processing.When
segregation occurs, large-sized particles
tend to group together and get isolated
instead of being blended well with the
rest of the material. This will lead to
inconsistency in the material as well as
difficulty in compaction.Surface areas
containing an unusual amount of coarse
particles will remain loose and unstable,
while other areas, rich with fines, may
rut excessively during prolonged wet
weather. When a stockpile is segregated
as badly as the one just illustrated,it is
almost impossible to blend the material
again before it is hauled out onto the
road. One option would be to use a
bulldozer and rework the stockpile to
blend it. Some agencies require their
stockpiles to be constructed in layers
so that these problems do not occur in
the first place. Work with suppliers to
reduce these problems. Segregated
material is always a problem.(18, 33) This road is located about 50 miles from Cairo, Egypt.It displays segregation problems in several
spots. (Photo courtesy of Ali Selim,SD LTAP, USA)
Handling Gravel 47

Loading From Stockpiles

Good loader operators who observe
the stockpile and work hard to blend
material evenly are essential in getting
good gravel delivered to the road.In
many small maintenance operations,
every truckdriver may operate the
loader to load his/her own truck.
It then becomes important that every
driver understand the need to observe
the pile and load material uniformly. If
large stockpiles have been placed with
belt stackers, it is always best to work
into the end of the pile and work the
face of the pile uniformly. Again, as
the loader places material in the trucks
it is wise to get each bucket of material
from a different location across the
face of the pile. (18, 33)
A good example of loader operation — working uniformly across the end of the stockpile.
Note also a very level stockpile site and a well maintained loading area on which the loader
Roadway Preparation and trucks work.This demonstrates pride in doing a good job of handling material.
When fresh gravel is to be placed on
a road, it is vital that the road be in
good shape. For example, a washboard
area needs to be cut out and reshaped
prior to placing new gravel over it.
Otherwise, the washboard distress will
quickly reflect right up into the new
surface and the problem quickly
reappears. Another critical matter is
to take care of any surface drainage
problems. If the road has lost crown,
has potholed areas, high shoulders or
severe rutting, all of these problems
need to be eliminated. Then fresh gravel
can be placed at a uniform depth and
the road becomes easier to maintain.
Generally it is not wise to simply fill
these problem areas with new gravel.
It can become very expensive and the This road has been badly damaged from a heavy haul. It would be useless to begin hauling and
gravel will not have uniform depth. placing fresh gravel until the entire roadway has been reshaped.

Preparing a road for new gravel can be

as simple as cutting out a few potholes
or a washboard area to reshaping the
entire cross section. Even if the existing
road is smooth and hard, it is often
wise to lightly scarify the surface to
get a good bond. One final tip: be
sure the crown and shape of the road
is as close as possible to the way the
road needs to look after regraveling is
finished. That is the only way a com-
pletely uniform layer of new gravel
can be placed.
48 Handling Gravel

Calculating Quantity
The procedure for determining how
much gravel needs to be hauled to
add a predetermined depth to a road
is not always well understood. One
thing that is often overlooked is the
shrinkage in volume that occurs from
ordinary compaction. Ordinary com-
paction means the shrinkage that
occurs from the material being placed,
absorbing moisture from rainfall and
then having traffic passing over it.
In many parts of the country, this
will result in 30% or greater reduction
in volume.

Keep in mind some people often cal-

culate the volume of material only as it
is carried in the truck or as it exists in These two photos depict a the good job of spreading done by a county highway department
the stockpile. Material in the stockpile using tandem end-dump trucks. The skill of the drivers makes this job look easy. Notice also the
grader is ready to begin processing the material.
is very loose and has very low density.
Remember to allow for shrinkage when
calculating how much gravel depth is
needed after the job is compacted and
finished. Calculation then should be
made for the distance that each truck
can spread its load. This is not always
done in maintenance operations, but it
is recommended.It’s the only way to
really know for sure how much material
is being placed.Appendix C of this
manual has two charts to help in
calculating quantities.

Hauling and Dumping

Traffic control is sometimes neglected
in rural areas while the work is being
done. It is not common in most areas
of the country to place signs during
routine blade maintenance. It is a
mobile work area and the warning
lights on the machine give adequate
notice that maintenance work is being
done. But hauling and spreading gravel
should be treated as a work zone and
signed as such. The Manual on Uniform
Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) or the
state’s uniform signing manual should
be used as a guide to select appropriate
warning signs. (38)
Once hauling begins, it is wise to have
a motorgrader present to process and
place the gravel immediately. The skill
of the truck drivers can really make a
regraveling operation work smoothly.
When drivers are able to dump the
load evenly and within the correct
length that was marked, the grader
operator’s job becomes much easier.
Handling Gravel 49

Windrowing, Equalizing
and Spreading
Once the gravel is dropped on the road,
the grader operator should pick up the
material and place it in a windrow. This
will usually take more than one pass. It
is called equalizing. This accomplishes
two important things when handling
gravel. It gives a final blending and
mixing of the gravel, and it makes
a windrow of very uniform volume.
Once equalized, the material should
be spread by the grader evenly on the
roadway. Care must be taken not to
carelessly cast material off the edge
of the roadway where it cannot be
recovered.When the material is finally
placed across the roadway, it leaves a
uniform depth of well-blended material The motorgrader operator has done a good job of picking up the fresh gravel and equalizing it
into a very uniform windrow.
that becomes the new gravel surface
for the public to drive on. It all works
better when everyone understands
his/her job. While it is not possible
everywhere, adding water and using
rollers for compaction invariably makes
a better gravel road. It is recommended
whenever possible. (32)

Only after completely windrowing and equalizing does the operator begin to place the material
at a uniform depth across the roadway.
50